Senior Director, Budget

Senior Director, Budget

The Senior Director, Budget provides analytic and operational leadership across the Biological Sciences Division, collaborating with finance leadership, service delivery unit personnel, academic and administrative leaders across the BSD and the university, as well as finance and budget personnel at the Medical Center to advance both short and long term goals and priorities. This role leads and supports annual budget and monthly budget forecast processes, including the development and management of both recurring and non‑recurring operating budgets.

Manages the financial operations of operating and capital budgets, develops long‑ and short‑term financial goals, business strategies, and financial forecasts for major service programs and initiatives, and coordinates quarterly and year‑end operating budget reporting. Manages financial administrators who focus on annual operating and capital budgets as well as monthly forecasting.

• Leads and champions the development, implementation, and monitoring of operating budget targets within the Biological Sciences Division, driving cross‑functional collaboration and ensuring alignment with University‑wide budgetary priorities.
• Works in close partnership with functional leaders to prepare high‑level budget targets for key drivers of fiscal performance, including Clinical Research, Clinical Volumes, Federal and Non‑Federal Awards, and spending assumptions.
• Coordinates budget planning calendar across the Biological Sciences Division, the University, and the Medical Center, synchronizing and integrating financial planning processes and collaborating effectively to ensure deadlines and priorities are achieved.
• In partnership with the Associate Dean of Facilities Services, oversees the development and financial management of capital budgets.
• Together with the Accounting and Facilities teams, reports on capital investment preparation of financial estimates for capital planning.
• Manages financial administrators, providing leadership, guidance, and professional development opportunities that ensure the provision of critical analytical and budgetary support to decision‑makers across units.
• Develops, interprets, and implements highly complex financial/accounting concepts and advanced techniques for financial planning and forecasting.
• Pioneers the development, implementation, and enforcement of standard operating procedures for annual and monthly budget processes to ensure consistency and accuracy; anticipates and integrates updates as needed.
• In partnership with the Strategy & Analytics team, prepares budget management reports and department‑level packages that provide insight into the trends and assumptions in prepared budgets.
• Prepares a top‑down budget with key drivers of assumptions to be leveraged to compare to the individual budgets prepared by departments and business units as well as provides an interim roll‑up of the budget data throughout the budget build process.
• Promotes a dynamic culture of innovation and continuous improvement including identifying, enhancing, and re‑imagining process efficiency and effectiveness that have organization‑wide impact.
• Forges strong partnerships, collaborating with senior management and stakeholders across the enterprise to gather, analyze, summarize, and prepare strategic recommendations regarding financial plans, operating forecasts, and other complex financial matters in support of a standard of operational excellence.
• Supports the development of long‑range capital and operating budget forecasts to support strategic investments and future expansion.
• Works closely with information technology staff to coordinate and lead improvements and transformations on enterprise‑wide budgeting and financial reporting systems and tools, ensuring they meet the evolving needs of the University.
• Engages with and leverages AI tools to optimize financial work flows, analysis, and decision making.
• Working in partnership with the accounting team, reports on variances between the approved budget and actual performance, and recommends strategies to drive achieving the planned budget and associated changes to processes…